Letters: Spending on homeless

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Re: “Something is wrong with state’s homeless spending” (Page A6, July 19).

Kerry Jackson and Wayne Washington point out that spending $42,000 per homeless person is just throwing money at the problem without rhyme, reason or plan.

It’s endemic to our woke culture change where spending is geared to lifestyle control, rather than problem-solving . We spend enough money to bury every hungry child under a mountain of caviar without any effect on poverty.

Politicians have no interest in correcting the government leaky bucket syndrome.

San Francisco is full of homeless people camping on streets alongside empty hotel rooms. They attract the indigent with welfare and repel business and tourism due to taxation, crime and over-regulation. Soon there will be no one left to drive the legislated EVs.

California is throwing money at the wrong things. We will not soon solve homelessness or any other problem.

Fred GutmannCupertino

Re: “Modify building codes for transition to all-electric” (Page A12, July 16).

Rob Hogue, in his letter, suggests that communities should modify their building codes so that when natural gas appliances wear out they are replaced with electrical or heat pump appliances.

My response is that the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) has already mandated that transition, at least for gas water heaters and furnaces. Starting in 2027 it will be illegal to install a gas water heater into any home. Same for furnaces starting in 2029.

These BAAQMD rules were passed back in March 2023. These are unfunded mandates, and there may be issues of time and effort to retrofit homes, costs, and the ability of the electrical grid to support all this electrification.

Randy BreunlingSan Jose

Re: “Wildlife officials, otter continue cat-and-mouse game” (Page A1, July 20).

Let’s rethink how we’re approaching the story of the otter climbing on surfboards.

The ocean is her home, and we are the ones invading the otter’s habitat. And now Fish and Wildlife want to incarcerate her for life when we have no idea what her motives are for getting on surfboards. In the video I saw, the otter was playing with the surfboard and was in fact on the other end of the board from the surfer.

We are not the only species on Earth, and our hubris in thinking we’re the most important here will be our undoing. I’m on team otter.

Michelle WatersLos Gatos

Re: “9th Circuit overturns political fundraising ban for local government employees” Page B1, July 21).

In every other developed country in the world giving money to politicians is the highest form of corruption; in the United States it is unlimited and the obvious reason why politicians do the interest of who pays them, not who votes for them.

Calling this “free speech” is the dumbest, most false argument ever. I understand the dishonesty of the right wing which pursues its plutocratic goals, but it’s pathetic that we accept it as a legitimate point.

Roberto GarutiWalnut Creek

Even without man’s CO2 emissions, the ocean is projected to rise between one and seven feet by 2100 according to the EPA. Man’s emissions would exacerbate that rise. It comes down to whether we build a 13-foot or 19-foot high wall in the next 80 years or move back to higher ground. Even if the world went all green tomorrow we’d still have the natural warmings that have caused the planet to warm every 1,000 years going back to the Medieval, Roman, Minoan, etc. warmings.

The only way to reduce man’s emissions is to develop inexpensive green energy that will drive out fossil fuel use. We can do this inexpensively today by making hydrogen with solar and wind for energy even when there is no sun or wind. It would tide us over to affordable batteries, fuel cells, and eventually fusion power, which is the power of the sun.

Ed KahlWoodside

Re: “Government has ability to solve U.S. obesity epidemic” (Page A6, July 20).

I agree with Robert Pearl that the government has the ability to solve the U.S. obesity epidemic. However, rather than drugging 70% of Americans by subsidizing the pharma industry, as he suggests, the government should stop subsidizing the biggest cause of obesity in America: corn and soy, often consumed in ultra-processed foods which lead to obesity. Sugar is also highly subsidized even though it is over-consumed.

Pearl admits that although drugs do produce weight loss, once stopped, the weight returns. Better eating, encouraged by the government, is the healthier answer.

Susan GaleSan Jose

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